HMO licence plans for Lambeth landlords, where every room is counted in the fee
Lambeth's HMO licence fee is £550 for every habitable room, so the room count is a money question as well as a layout one. The council also offers to draw your floor plan itself, from £304. We draw the scaled plans and room schedule to its guidance notes for a fixed £495.
Fixed fee from £495 · all prices
Prefer to talk it through?
A borough-wide scheme since December 2021
The council's additional HMO licensing page says the scheme is borough-wide and applies to any property occupied by three or more individuals that is not captured by mandatory licensing. It came into force on Thursday 9 December 2021. It also covers multiple-occupied flats in purpose-built blocks containing more than two flats where three or more people live in the flat.
So a three-person flat share in Streatham or a four-person house in Brixton falls inside it, whichever ward it sits in.
HMO Licence Plans in Lambeth
from £495
Every price is the full fixed fee you pay. No VAT is charged. Council application fees are paid to the council separately.
What you get
- Scaled plans of every floor with all rooms, communal areas and stairs
- The use and dimensions of each room marked, as the council's guidance asks
- Fire doors, the alarm system and emergency lighting shown on the plan
- A schedule of bedrooms, which is the count the council charges on
- Bedroom areas set against the national minimum sizes
- A PDF pack to upload with the online application
- Count sleeping rooms
The council counts a room used for sleeping, not a dining or living room.
- Measure the house
Approximate dimensions are asked for; measured ones are safer.
- Draw to the guidance notes
Room use, sizes, fire doors, alarms and emergency lighting.
- Check against the standards
Space and amenity standards from the council's designation report.
- Apply online
Upload with the certificates and your Part A payment.
Why the room count matters
On its licence fees page, effective from 1 April 2026, the council says the fee per habitable room is £550 for new applications and renewals, with a £75 discount on Part B for accredited landlords. A house with five lettable rooms is £2,750 and one with seven is £3,850, on the council's table.
The additional licensing page defines a habitable room for fee purposes as a room used for sleeping, and says a dining or living room will not be counted and cannot be used as sleeping accommodation. A plan that records which rooms are bedrooms, and their measured sizes, fixes the number you pay for.
The national conditions say a room for one person over 10 must be at least 6.51 square metres, and a room below 4.64 square metres cannot be used for sleeping.
What the guidance notes ask the plan to show
The council's HMO licensing application guidance notes say you must submit a floor plan with the application. It should indicate all rooms, communal areas and stairways and how they relate to each other, clearly show the use of each room and its approximate dimensions, and show the location of fire doors, details of the fire alarm system and emergency lighting.
The notes include a symbol key for baths, cookers, call points, heat and smoke detectors, fire doors and exit signs, and two example plans. They warn that one example is incomplete because no room sizes are displayed. That is the mistake our schedule is built to prevent.
The council will draw it for you
Lambeth's service fees list drawing floor plans at £304 up to a maximum of £585, with £56 for each additional storey. That is a fair option for a small flat, and you may prefer it. Where we differ is in the schedule: a table of every bedroom with its measured area against the national minimum.
Our fixed £495 covers plans and schedule. The council's licence fee is separate and is paid to the council.
Room sizes behind the schedule
The national conditions say a room for one person over 10 must be at least 6.51 square metres, and a room below 4.64 square metres cannot be used for sleeping. The guidance notes also point you to Appendix 6 of the designation report, the council's amenity and space standards, which we read alongside the plan.
Sources
Every figure on this page, where it comes from and a link to the original.
| Figure | Source | Link |
|---|---|---|
| borough-wide from 9 December 2021, three or more people | Lambeth Council, Additional HMO licensing: borough-wide scheme applying to any property occupied by three or more individuals not captured by mandatory licensing; came into force on Thursday 9 December 2021 | www.lambeth.gov.uk |
| £550 per habitable room | Lambeth Council, Licence and other service fees (effective 1 April 2026): the fee per habitable room is £550 for new applications and renewals; five lettings £2,750 | www.lambeth.gov.uk |
| habitable room means a room used for sleeping | Lambeth Council, Additional HMO licensing: a habitable room is defined as a room used for sleeping; a dining or living room will not be counted as a habitable room for the licensing fee | www.lambeth.gov.uk |
| floor plan required, with room use, dimensions and fire precautions | Lambeth HMO Licensing Application Guidance Notes, Part 12: you are required to submit a floor plan; it should indicate all rooms, communal areas and stairways, the use of each room and its approximate dimensions, fire doors, the fire alarm system and emergency lighting | www.lambeth.gov.uk |
| an example plan with no room sizes is incomplete | Lambeth HMO Licensing Application Guidance Notes: example floor plans; sample 2 is incomplete as there are no room sizes displayed | www.lambeth.gov.uk |
| £304 to £585, £56 per extra storey | Lambeth Council, Property standards, enforcement action and costs: drawing floor plans £304 to a maximum of £585, each additional storey £56 | www.lambeth.gov.uk |
| £75 off Part B | Lambeth Council, Licence and other service fees: accredited landlords or members of recognised schemes get a £75 discount applied to the Part B fee | www.lambeth.gov.uk |
| 6.51 square metres | Licensing and Management of HMOs (Mandatory Conditions of Licences) (England) Regulations 2018, new Sch 4 para 1A(2)(a): one person aged over 10 years (source wording: "not less than 6.51 square metres") | www.legislation.gov.uk |
| 4.64 square metres | Same regulations, para 1A(2)(d): a room under this size may not be used for sleeping (source wording: "less than 4.64 square metres") | www.legislation.gov.uk |
Questions people ask
How much is a Lambeth HMO licence?
Which rooms count as habitable?
Does Lambeth need a floor plan?
Can the council draw my plan?
Photographs: Chris Whippet (CC BY-SA 2.0); Tim Green from Bradford (CC BY 2.0).
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